Supernova
Chapter 1
by Black Dragon
Standard disclaimers apply, yada yada yada. *Warning* Although this is a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction, Ranma (and possibly Ryoga) will be the only one(s) from that series to actually appear. Other crossovers may commence at my discretion. You can't do anything about it. I control the vertical. I control the horizontal. Apparently, I also control your free time, since you couldn't find anything better to read. *Ahem* anyway, be warned: Ranma may appear OOC due to lack of a curse and many of the martial arts values he had in the anime and manga. This Ranma has no problem using a gun, killing people, and doing things rather dishonorably. You have been warned.
Chapter 1
Enter the Wild Horse
************************************************************************** ********
"Wasp Seven to Queen, do you read me? *Phhht* Over."
*Phhht* "This is the Queen, whaddaya want Seven?"
"Just checking in, Commander. Damn, I hate escort duty."
"Quit 'yer bellyachin' Seven. Maybe if you's guys were real pilots instead of wussie greens, we'd get a real job!"
*Phhht* "Fighter group Wasp, this is Nest, we've got an unidentified hyperspace exit at coordinates 671.4 X 833.2, check it out."
"A'right, some action! Ya think it'll be some pirates?"
"Shut up and form up! All fighters lock onto those coordinates and prepare to sting!"
In the vastness of space, the eight small, black and yellow fighters quickly pulled away from the two freighters and the small blue frigate toward the small blue-white light that accompanied a hyperspace exit. The pilots of the fighters tightened there grips on their flight sticks as the light suddenly expanded... and then quickly closed as a large cylinder appeared.
"What the hell? That 'ain't a ship!"
"Wow, real sharp, aincha' Four? Maybe you should be one o' them scientist types."
"Aw, shut the !%!^&! up will y- hey! W-what's it doing?"
A pair of green lights blinked several times, then suddenly stopped and became a constant, solid red. At that moment, the cylinder opened up, to reveal several arms that ended either in blue orbs or electric forks. Electricity coursed through the device, energy arcing around it in deadly ribbons. Then, all at once, a huge white sphere enveloped the cylinder, then expanded outward toward the ships. Before any of the pilots could react, the sphere reached them, sending arcs of energy dancing across their hulls and control panels. Before they knew what was happening, their cockpits had gone dark.
Aboard the light frigate Nest, things were far more panicked, though it was more due to the crew's inexperience with emergencies than the severity of the situation.
"I want a status report! What was that?"
"Sensors say it was some kind of EMP wave! The shield protected us and the freighters, but the fighters have lost power! The computer says their computers are commencing a full system restart!"
"DAMN!!! That'll take forever!"
"Sir, we're picking up another hyperspace signature!"
Another blue light appeared and expanded, this time to a much bigger degree, and out sailed a red ship, a little smaller than the Nest. I resembled a hawk, but with an oversized belly, no talons or tail, and an exaggerated crest where the head would be. The crest ended in an array of sensory towers, and in the middle of it there was a small blue dome that covered the bridge. It wasn't a particularly powerful-looking or intimidating ship, but you wouldn't know from the Nest's crew's reaction.
"It's the WILD HORSE!!!"
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"Attention! Attention!"
Slowly, the noise a talking slowed to silence as the assembled officers focused their attention on the podium and the man standing behind it. The man adjusted his glasses, and then began to speak.
"We have called you here today for a mass briefing of the utmost importance. As you know, throughout the galaxy, piracy and smuggling is a constant threat to all who travel through space. Of course, our own forces, not to mention several others have brought many of these criminals to justice, and continue to do so even as we speak. However, there is a particular group that has come to make a name for itself among the pirates and bounty hunters. No doutb you have heard rumors that you have been called here to be given a briefing on a single, small group of pirates, and it's true. These men have managed to escape the police, the military, and the intelligence agency, and even now spread their reign of terror throughout the sector! I have gathered you here today to tell you about them, so you should be better prepared should you meet."
As the speaker extends a pointer and prepares a viewscreen, whispering begins among the gathered officers, mostly consisting of "They dragged us here to tell us about a bunch of pirates?" and "Oh please. If we met up with these guys, they're dead meat." The man at the podium sighed, took a deep breath, and then activated the first picture.
"This is their leader, Ranma Saotome."
The assembled crowd focused their attention on the viewscreen, and then...
"YOWZA!! What a hunk!" Chorused most of the female officers.
*Crash* the rest of the officers facefaulted.
The man at the podium merely sweatdropped and shook his head. {Sheesh. Every single time. Women.}
"No way, he can't be a pirate!"
"Yeah, he's way too gorgeous!"
"He must be their prisoner or something!"
This did nothing to help the rest of the officers, who were still trying to get up off the floor.
The picture was of, in fact, a man of about 18 in a sleeveless grey shirt and orange flak vest. He had blue eyes, and black hair which was tied into a pigtail in the back. He had a rogueish smile which made some of the women forget that he was the bad guy, while the others had forgotten long ago as they looked at his trim, well-toned body, which was heavily muscled in all the right places.
The speaker sighed again and tried to continue.
"Ranma Saotome is the leader of this group of pirates. He is an excellent tactician..."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"Sir! The Wild Horse is launching fighters! Two of them!"
"Bah! Two fighters? Is that the best they have?"
"Sir! The ship warped in on the other side of the freighters, so we're unable to open fire! And the fighters are still inoperable!"
"Ha! What's it matter? They can't start taking the freighter's cargo with us around, now can they? Bring us close to the freighter and keep us parallel so they can't use it as a shield!"
"Aye aye sir!"
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"...An ace fighter pilot..."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
The Nest was a large, flat ship, meaning it had a lot of guns on top, and a lot on the bottom. But not many on the edge. Unfortunately for them.
The Captain of the Nest growled in frustration as one of the fighters came around the helm of the long, thin freighter, and flew on their horizontal axis, which kept it safely out of the main gunners' sights. Suddenly, the fighter tipped upward, and launched a short burst of torpedoes, which quickly turned around and impacted the top of the ship, burning through the shields.
The Nest jarred violently as the torpedoes struck.
"Sir! Our top deflector screen is gone!"
"Damn it! Can our gunners get a lock on him?"
"Ummm..."
*Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!*
"Er, half our front gunners are gone, sir. He made a run on top of us in the confusion."
"Then tell the rest of our gunners to get him!"
"Yes sir!" said the young ensign, as he turned back to the console.
*Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!*
"Uh, too late sir."
"DAMN IT!!!!"
Wincing at the volume of the Captain's curse, the sensors officer glanced down at her screen.
"Sir! The fighter is retreating! It looks like he's headed towards the nearest freighter's airlock!"
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"...He's also a warrior of legendary talent on the ground. Or so our reports say. Not just with blasters, but unarmed too."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"Heh, if he thinks he can get past us, he's got another thing com'in."
The rest of guards grunted in agreement as they aimed their weapons toward the airlock. From it, they could hear the muffled noise of a large, heavy door closing. They tightened their grip on their blaster rifles.
*Fooooosh* There was a sudden rush of air as the blast doors opened, and the totally inexplicable airlock fog billowed out, obscuring the intruder from view.
*Bweeooh* *bweeooh* two white bolts of light launched forth from the fog, one hitting a guard in the leg and the other missing completely.
*Bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* waves of bright red light returned fire, stabbing deep into the mist. The guards stopped firing and waited. The fog cleared, and they saw... nothing. No intruder, no droid or droid remnants, no corpse, not even the weapon that had originally fired at them.
Cautiously, the guards entered the airlock, looking around for some sign of the enemy. One guard looked up at the ceiling and found him. He regretted it later.
*Pow!* *Thwock!* *Smash!* *Crunch!* *Bash!* *Wham!*
Ranma Saotome dusted off his hands as the last of his opponents hit the ground like a bag of rocks. As he stepped out into the hallway of the ship, he wondered what kind of rewards this raid would bring.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
The man at the podium pushed a button under the viewscreen, and the picture on it immediately changed. Many of the female officers pouted. Not that the man presently shown on the screen was ugly, far from it, but he just lacked the same kind of charm in his smile, which was more of a smirk than anything. He looked to be a bit older than Ranma, and a bit bigger. Not that he was fat, he was just bigger in general. He was taller, thicker, and his shoulders were wider than Ranma's. He had gray eyes and unkempt, jet black hair, and wore a heavy brown trenchcoat, complete with brown gloves and heavy black boots.
"This is Rayden Shikodan, Ranma's right-hand man. He functions as your general, all-purpose soldier. He's reportedly also quite skilled in a fighter's cockpit..."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"Turn the ship over! Get that docked fighter in our lower gunners' sights!"
"Yes sir! Beginning manuever..."
"Sir! The other fighter is approaching us at starboard!"
"Quick! Bring our belly lasers to bear!"
The fighter slowed as he closed the short distance between him and the larger ship. Said ship stopped turning, and then started to tilt over in order to bring him within range of the Nest's belly turrets. If the crew of the Nest could see inside that fighter's cockpit, they would have noticed that it's pilot was smiling. It wasn't a nice smile...
*Zooo* *Zooo* *Zooo* *Zooo*
The time that the Nest took to bring it's lower lasers to bear, plus the rate at which the fighter was closing the distance gave it's pilot plenty of time to fire off a full magazine of 8 torpedoes, two at a time. The fighter then veered off.
It was a pity. They had finally turned over enough to shoot at him. At this point, all they could shoot at were the proton torpedoes heading for the remaining laser turrets.
*Boom!* *boom!* *kabooooom!!*
"Uh, sir? All our lasers are offline. And we're losing power. We're helpless."
"Fighters still not operational. I'm sending out an emergency distress signal."
The Captain wasn't listening, however. He was too busy crying.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"This man is also a ground trooper of a type we've never seen before. According to reports, he has the strength to break steel with his hands, and the constitution to take several direct blaster hits with no ill effects!"
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
*Kshhhhhhhhhhhh*
"Hey, what's that?"
One the guards watched curiously as a red light appeared above them, and then started moving.
That curiosity turned to surprise as they realized that the red light was burning through the hull.
As the light continued to make its way into a circle, the two guards called for help, then raised their blasters, ready to shoot whatever came through.
In retrospect, they probably shouldn't have waited directly under the entry hole.
*Kshhhhht* *Crash!*
The two guards were instantly knocked out by the heavy disc of metal.
"What the- oh. Oops." Rayden got off the piece of ship armor, and checked his blaster rifle.
"There he is! Blast 'im!"
*Bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh*
The guards grinned as they watched the bright red bolts strike their targets back.
Rayden lurched forward.
The guards' first clue that something was wrong was the fact that he didn't fall down. People that are dead usually fall down, and this guy had taken four direct blaster bolts in the back. He had to be dead, right?
Rayden turned around and glared at them.
"That hurt ya'know."
The guards went very, very pale.
Rayden aimed his blaster.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"The third member of this group of pirates is named Arak Tetsumi."
The man at the podium again pushed the viewscreen button, and Rayden's image was replaced with another one. In contrast to Rayden, Arak was a bit shorter than both of the other pirates, and was wearing a white lab coat. He had neatly combed brown hair and bright brown eyes.
"Arak is who you could call the "brains" of the group. He is a professional weapons expert and well versed in sciences of all kinds. He supplies, maintains, and upgrades the group's technology, as well as runs the main ship when the others are out in the fighters."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
*BweeeeeoooooOOOOOOO*
"Finally! Systems back online!"
"S'bout %!^&)!$ time! Let's go kick those guys' asses!"
"What're you kidding?"
"Does it sound like I'm kidding Three?!"
"You don't understand Commander! That's the Wild Horse! The Wild Horse! We'll be reduced to slag in seconds!"
"Look! I'm giving you a direct order!"
"Then you can call this an official mutiny!"
"I'm with Three!"
"Yeah, me too!"
"No way I'm go'in up against those guys!"
"They say that these guys are real merciful to guys who give up early!"
".................................... You're all a bunch of pansies! You hear me?! A BUNCH OF PINK, FLUFFY, GIRLY PANSIES!!!!! I'll show you how a real pilot acts!!
With that, the lead fighter's engines roared, and he sped off toward the freighters.
"........... He's a dead man."
"Eh, I never liked him anyway."
As the Commander of Wasp Squadron neared his target, he couldn't help but feel a growing sense of dread.
'Nah, must be gas. I've got to lay off the burritos.'
He neared one of the fighters, which appeared to be attached to the top of the freighter's hull, when suddenly a bright white beam flashed in front of his fighter. Acting on instinct, he quickly dove, bringing the fighter out of the way of the follow-up blasts.
'Hmph. I'll just take out their main ship first. Maybe that'll teach those wussies how a real man acts.'
Aboard the Wild Horse, Arak was enjoying himself as he casually tried to shoot down the lone fighter that had attacked the ship. He took a sip of his soda as he swung the joystick in his hand back and forth, his forefinger keeping the "fire" button compressed.
"Hmm. Not bad for a beginner." Arak mused.
The fighter zoomed past, its lasers splashing harmlessly against the ship's shields.
"I think I'll honor his final moments by giving him a taste of the fancy stuff."
Arak kept the targeting cursor centered on the lone fighter, and then pushed a small yellow button on the side.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
The speaker once again pushed a button below the viewscreen, and Arak's picture was replaced with that of the Wild Horse.
"Their ship, the Wild Horse, is the most technologically advanced space vessel of its size and class. It sports the normal 693-GX hull design, but with drastically improved shields, armor, weapons, and engines. Reports also say it has several "special" systems that they unable to describe. In any case, one should engage the Wild Horse with extreme caution, as it has been known to overpower ships nearly twice its size, even without the help of the fighters.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
The Commander of Wasp Group grinned as he completed his first run over the Wild Horse. That gunner was firing like he was half blind. This was gonna be a piece of cake. It was then that his console beeped. The pilot looked over at the larger ship to see a panel open up and what looked like a torpedo launcher appear. It fired off a single missile and then retracted itself.
The Commander wasn't worried. Dodging torpedoes and missiles was the first thing they taught you at any flight school.
The projectile streaked towards its target, a short stream of red trailing behind it. The fighter it was chasing banked to the left suddenly, causing the missile to overshoot its target. Slowly but surely it turned around, and soon it was back on the fighter's tail.
The Commander merely grinned. His grin got even wider when the missile exploded.
'Ha! Must have been a dud!'
With that thought, he didn't even bother to look behind him, where the one missile had broken into over 30 small warheads, all headed for his ship.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
It was overkill at its best.
"See? I told him not to go."
"We hear ya, Three."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"Please be aware that because of the extreme danger involved in dealing with these individuals, all forces are encouraged to shoot on sight, no matter the situation. These three simple pirates have already cost empires and republics across the galaxy billions of credits. We are determined to make sure that their next heist will be their last! Dismissed!"
And with that, the mass briefing of the Galactic Police Force (Not to be confused with the Galaxy Police, who have much cooler ships.) came to a close, its participants filed out of the room. One bubbly brunette chatted with her friend Namake as they exited the room.
"Wow! Can you really believe that that first guy is a space pirate? I mean, he was so cute!"
"Taki! What are you talking about? He's a criminal!" Namake looked at her friend in shock and disbelief.
Taki just raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And you're telling me you didn't feel a single thing as your eyes traveled down his muscular body, and traced out his strong, lithe arms, met his deep blue eyes and-"
"Taki! That man is a pirate! You are a police officer! What if you met him on the field of battle? Would you be shooting or swooning?" Namake asked seriously, her hands on her hips.
Taki took a moment to think about it. "Neither really. I'd probably be on my knees begging 'please, please don't kill me! Let me be your love slave instead!'"
Namake sweatdropped as Taki giggled.
"Whatever. I'll see you later." Namake walked off.
"Bye Namake! Be sure to loosen up a bit, okay? All that stress'll cause wrinkles!"
Namake let out a low growl and stomped down the hallway to her ship, all the other officers giving her a wide berth.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
*Clang!* The reverberating noise of metal hitting metal sounded throughout the Wild Horse's cargo hold as Rayden dropped off the last of the crates. On the other end of the airlock, the crew of the freighter huddled in fear as the large man stepped back through, wondering whether or not they would survive.
Rayden looked at the assembled group and gave them a smile. This time it was a nice smile.
"Well, we're all done here. Tell the authorities all about us when they get here, okay?"
The crew looked at each other in confusion, then the pilot of the freighter spoke.
"So... that's it?"
Rayden looked at the man and blinked. "Well... yeah. Unless you're hiding more valuables, that is."
"So you aren't going to shoot us?" the pilot asked hopefully.
"Or torture us?" said an engineer.
"Or rape us?" asked a female civilian.
Rayden blinked again, then shook his head. "Nope. Not our style."
He walked once more into the airlock.
"Uh, you really don't have to do this," Ranma said, scratching his head under his pigtail.
"Oh no! We're happy to do it!" chorused the three female engineers as they moved the freighter's cargo into the Wild Horse. They all looked quite happy. The pilot, however...
"What the hell are you doing?! They're robbing us! This is a heist! We're not supposed to help them!" He looked ready to burst a blood vessel. Or several of them.
"Um, that's right girls. This is highly illegal, you know," Ranma bigsweated as one of the women flashed him a smile in response.
"Oh, we don't mind at all!"
"Yes, pirate or not, you're still our guest!"
"And after beating up all those nasty guards and escort ships, we couldn't possibly let you steal all this by yourself! You could get hurt!"
Ranma sweatdropped. The pilot fainted.
Over in the cargo bay of the Wild Horse, Rayden watched Ranma as Arak went over the stolen goods.
"Lessee... high explosives, energy cells, plasm conductors..." Arak counted off the different items as Rayden watched the three girls take a crate Ranma was carrying into the cargo bay themselves.
"I don't know whether to feel sorry for him or jealous of him."
"A bunch of unidentifiable foodstuffs, and some armor vests! This is military stuff all right! You say something Rayden?"
"No, nothing. Let's pack it up and jet."
"Wait! You can't just leave us!"
Ranma's exit from the ship was suddenly blocked by three female bodies.
"Er, why not?"
"Please, take us with you!"
"Even as your prisoners!"
"We'll be good! We promise!"
Ranma's confused look eventually turned into a frown.
"Now look here, ladies-"
Ranma looked up and gulped as he saw three pairs of watery eyes staring at him.
"Pleeeeaaaaassssse?"
Arak rolled his eyes. "The gutsiest fighter in the Universe... and his spine turns to jello whenever a girl sheds a tear."
Rayden smiled. "C'mon, we need to rescue our leader from his admirers again."
Ranma was in a state of panic, and wondering what to do, when suddenly he found himself uncerimoniously yanked into the airlock just as the blast doors closed.
The three women stared at the doors for a moment, then started pouting.
"Oh poo!"
Aboard the Wild Horse, Ranma's companions were having a grand time laughing at Ranma's blushing face. That is, until Ranma punched Rayden into one of the walls. Arak was smart enough to shut up right then.
Ranma regained his composure, then calmly questioned Arak.
"Okay, so what'd we get?"
Arak grinned. "We hit gold this time Captain. We're talking fully functional, military hardware fresh from the factories."
Ranma nodded. That was a good catch.
"I wonder why it wasn't more heavily guarded though," he mused.
"Probably with all the wars escalating amongst the different powers around here, they couldn't spare more ships to guard a freighter that wasn't going near the front line," responded Rayden, after he had removed his head from the wall.
"I guess that makes sense." Ranma grinned. "Maybe we should do a little cleaning up after some of the major battles around here."
"You mean swoop in a after a battle and steal whatever's left?" Rayden asked.
"It'll be risky." Arak mused.
Ranma shrugged. "So? That's never stopped us before." At that, Ranma turned toward the window, and looked out into space. "But first, a vacation!"
Arak and Rayden looked at each other. "A vacation?" they asked in perfect synchronozation.
Ranma turned back toward them and smiled.
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End Chapter 1
Comments? Questions? Rants? Flames? Donations? Contact me at [email protected]
Chapter 1
by Black Dragon
Standard disclaimers apply, yada yada yada. *Warning* Although this is a Ranma 1/2 fanfiction, Ranma (and possibly Ryoga) will be the only one(s) from that series to actually appear. Other crossovers may commence at my discretion. You can't do anything about it. I control the vertical. I control the horizontal. Apparently, I also control your free time, since you couldn't find anything better to read. *Ahem* anyway, be warned: Ranma may appear OOC due to lack of a curse and many of the martial arts values he had in the anime and manga. This Ranma has no problem using a gun, killing people, and doing things rather dishonorably. You have been warned.
Chapter 1
Enter the Wild Horse
************************************************************************** ********
"Wasp Seven to Queen, do you read me? *Phhht* Over."
*Phhht* "This is the Queen, whaddaya want Seven?"
"Just checking in, Commander. Damn, I hate escort duty."
"Quit 'yer bellyachin' Seven. Maybe if you's guys were real pilots instead of wussie greens, we'd get a real job!"
*Phhht* "Fighter group Wasp, this is Nest, we've got an unidentified hyperspace exit at coordinates 671.4 X 833.2, check it out."
"A'right, some action! Ya think it'll be some pirates?"
"Shut up and form up! All fighters lock onto those coordinates and prepare to sting!"
In the vastness of space, the eight small, black and yellow fighters quickly pulled away from the two freighters and the small blue frigate toward the small blue-white light that accompanied a hyperspace exit. The pilots of the fighters tightened there grips on their flight sticks as the light suddenly expanded... and then quickly closed as a large cylinder appeared.
"What the hell? That 'ain't a ship!"
"Wow, real sharp, aincha' Four? Maybe you should be one o' them scientist types."
"Aw, shut the !%!^&! up will y- hey! W-what's it doing?"
A pair of green lights blinked several times, then suddenly stopped and became a constant, solid red. At that moment, the cylinder opened up, to reveal several arms that ended either in blue orbs or electric forks. Electricity coursed through the device, energy arcing around it in deadly ribbons. Then, all at once, a huge white sphere enveloped the cylinder, then expanded outward toward the ships. Before any of the pilots could react, the sphere reached them, sending arcs of energy dancing across their hulls and control panels. Before they knew what was happening, their cockpits had gone dark.
Aboard the light frigate Nest, things were far more panicked, though it was more due to the crew's inexperience with emergencies than the severity of the situation.
"I want a status report! What was that?"
"Sensors say it was some kind of EMP wave! The shield protected us and the freighters, but the fighters have lost power! The computer says their computers are commencing a full system restart!"
"DAMN!!! That'll take forever!"
"Sir, we're picking up another hyperspace signature!"
Another blue light appeared and expanded, this time to a much bigger degree, and out sailed a red ship, a little smaller than the Nest. I resembled a hawk, but with an oversized belly, no talons or tail, and an exaggerated crest where the head would be. The crest ended in an array of sensory towers, and in the middle of it there was a small blue dome that covered the bridge. It wasn't a particularly powerful-looking or intimidating ship, but you wouldn't know from the Nest's crew's reaction.
"It's the WILD HORSE!!!"
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"Attention! Attention!"
Slowly, the noise a talking slowed to silence as the assembled officers focused their attention on the podium and the man standing behind it. The man adjusted his glasses, and then began to speak.
"We have called you here today for a mass briefing of the utmost importance. As you know, throughout the galaxy, piracy and smuggling is a constant threat to all who travel through space. Of course, our own forces, not to mention several others have brought many of these criminals to justice, and continue to do so even as we speak. However, there is a particular group that has come to make a name for itself among the pirates and bounty hunters. No doutb you have heard rumors that you have been called here to be given a briefing on a single, small group of pirates, and it's true. These men have managed to escape the police, the military, and the intelligence agency, and even now spread their reign of terror throughout the sector! I have gathered you here today to tell you about them, so you should be better prepared should you meet."
As the speaker extends a pointer and prepares a viewscreen, whispering begins among the gathered officers, mostly consisting of "They dragged us here to tell us about a bunch of pirates?" and "Oh please. If we met up with these guys, they're dead meat." The man at the podium sighed, took a deep breath, and then activated the first picture.
"This is their leader, Ranma Saotome."
The assembled crowd focused their attention on the viewscreen, and then...
"YOWZA!! What a hunk!" Chorused most of the female officers.
*Crash* the rest of the officers facefaulted.
The man at the podium merely sweatdropped and shook his head. {Sheesh. Every single time. Women.}
"No way, he can't be a pirate!"
"Yeah, he's way too gorgeous!"
"He must be their prisoner or something!"
This did nothing to help the rest of the officers, who were still trying to get up off the floor.
The picture was of, in fact, a man of about 18 in a sleeveless grey shirt and orange flak vest. He had blue eyes, and black hair which was tied into a pigtail in the back. He had a rogueish smile which made some of the women forget that he was the bad guy, while the others had forgotten long ago as they looked at his trim, well-toned body, which was heavily muscled in all the right places.
The speaker sighed again and tried to continue.
"Ranma Saotome is the leader of this group of pirates. He is an excellent tactician..."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"Sir! The Wild Horse is launching fighters! Two of them!"
"Bah! Two fighters? Is that the best they have?"
"Sir! The ship warped in on the other side of the freighters, so we're unable to open fire! And the fighters are still inoperable!"
"Ha! What's it matter? They can't start taking the freighter's cargo with us around, now can they? Bring us close to the freighter and keep us parallel so they can't use it as a shield!"
"Aye aye sir!"
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"...An ace fighter pilot..."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
The Nest was a large, flat ship, meaning it had a lot of guns on top, and a lot on the bottom. But not many on the edge. Unfortunately for them.
The Captain of the Nest growled in frustration as one of the fighters came around the helm of the long, thin freighter, and flew on their horizontal axis, which kept it safely out of the main gunners' sights. Suddenly, the fighter tipped upward, and launched a short burst of torpedoes, which quickly turned around and impacted the top of the ship, burning through the shields.
The Nest jarred violently as the torpedoes struck.
"Sir! Our top deflector screen is gone!"
"Damn it! Can our gunners get a lock on him?"
"Ummm..."
*Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!*
"Er, half our front gunners are gone, sir. He made a run on top of us in the confusion."
"Then tell the rest of our gunners to get him!"
"Yes sir!" said the young ensign, as he turned back to the console.
*Blam!* *Blam!* *Blam!*
"Uh, too late sir."
"DAMN IT!!!!"
Wincing at the volume of the Captain's curse, the sensors officer glanced down at her screen.
"Sir! The fighter is retreating! It looks like he's headed towards the nearest freighter's airlock!"
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"...He's also a warrior of legendary talent on the ground. Or so our reports say. Not just with blasters, but unarmed too."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"Heh, if he thinks he can get past us, he's got another thing com'in."
The rest of guards grunted in agreement as they aimed their weapons toward the airlock. From it, they could hear the muffled noise of a large, heavy door closing. They tightened their grip on their blaster rifles.
*Fooooosh* There was a sudden rush of air as the blast doors opened, and the totally inexplicable airlock fog billowed out, obscuring the intruder from view.
*Bweeooh* *bweeooh* two white bolts of light launched forth from the fog, one hitting a guard in the leg and the other missing completely.
*Bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* waves of bright red light returned fire, stabbing deep into the mist. The guards stopped firing and waited. The fog cleared, and they saw... nothing. No intruder, no droid or droid remnants, no corpse, not even the weapon that had originally fired at them.
Cautiously, the guards entered the airlock, looking around for some sign of the enemy. One guard looked up at the ceiling and found him. He regretted it later.
*Pow!* *Thwock!* *Smash!* *Crunch!* *Bash!* *Wham!*
Ranma Saotome dusted off his hands as the last of his opponents hit the ground like a bag of rocks. As he stepped out into the hallway of the ship, he wondered what kind of rewards this raid would bring.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
The man at the podium pushed a button under the viewscreen, and the picture on it immediately changed. Many of the female officers pouted. Not that the man presently shown on the screen was ugly, far from it, but he just lacked the same kind of charm in his smile, which was more of a smirk than anything. He looked to be a bit older than Ranma, and a bit bigger. Not that he was fat, he was just bigger in general. He was taller, thicker, and his shoulders were wider than Ranma's. He had gray eyes and unkempt, jet black hair, and wore a heavy brown trenchcoat, complete with brown gloves and heavy black boots.
"This is Rayden Shikodan, Ranma's right-hand man. He functions as your general, all-purpose soldier. He's reportedly also quite skilled in a fighter's cockpit..."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"Turn the ship over! Get that docked fighter in our lower gunners' sights!"
"Yes sir! Beginning manuever..."
"Sir! The other fighter is approaching us at starboard!"
"Quick! Bring our belly lasers to bear!"
The fighter slowed as he closed the short distance between him and the larger ship. Said ship stopped turning, and then started to tilt over in order to bring him within range of the Nest's belly turrets. If the crew of the Nest could see inside that fighter's cockpit, they would have noticed that it's pilot was smiling. It wasn't a nice smile...
*Zooo* *Zooo* *Zooo* *Zooo*
The time that the Nest took to bring it's lower lasers to bear, plus the rate at which the fighter was closing the distance gave it's pilot plenty of time to fire off a full magazine of 8 torpedoes, two at a time. The fighter then veered off.
It was a pity. They had finally turned over enough to shoot at him. At this point, all they could shoot at were the proton torpedoes heading for the remaining laser turrets.
*Boom!* *boom!* *kabooooom!!*
"Uh, sir? All our lasers are offline. And we're losing power. We're helpless."
"Fighters still not operational. I'm sending out an emergency distress signal."
The Captain wasn't listening, however. He was too busy crying.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"This man is also a ground trooper of a type we've never seen before. According to reports, he has the strength to break steel with his hands, and the constitution to take several direct blaster hits with no ill effects!"
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
*Kshhhhhhhhhhhh*
"Hey, what's that?"
One the guards watched curiously as a red light appeared above them, and then started moving.
That curiosity turned to surprise as they realized that the red light was burning through the hull.
As the light continued to make its way into a circle, the two guards called for help, then raised their blasters, ready to shoot whatever came through.
In retrospect, they probably shouldn't have waited directly under the entry hole.
*Kshhhhht* *Crash!*
The two guards were instantly knocked out by the heavy disc of metal.
"What the- oh. Oops." Rayden got off the piece of ship armor, and checked his blaster rifle.
"There he is! Blast 'im!"
*Bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh* *bweeooh*
The guards grinned as they watched the bright red bolts strike their targets back.
Rayden lurched forward.
The guards' first clue that something was wrong was the fact that he didn't fall down. People that are dead usually fall down, and this guy had taken four direct blaster bolts in the back. He had to be dead, right?
Rayden turned around and glared at them.
"That hurt ya'know."
The guards went very, very pale.
Rayden aimed his blaster.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"The third member of this group of pirates is named Arak Tetsumi."
The man at the podium again pushed the viewscreen button, and Rayden's image was replaced with another one. In contrast to Rayden, Arak was a bit shorter than both of the other pirates, and was wearing a white lab coat. He had neatly combed brown hair and bright brown eyes.
"Arak is who you could call the "brains" of the group. He is a professional weapons expert and well versed in sciences of all kinds. He supplies, maintains, and upgrades the group's technology, as well as runs the main ship when the others are out in the fighters."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
*BweeeeeoooooOOOOOOO*
"Finally! Systems back online!"
"S'bout %!^&)!$ time! Let's go kick those guys' asses!"
"What're you kidding?"
"Does it sound like I'm kidding Three?!"
"You don't understand Commander! That's the Wild Horse! The Wild Horse! We'll be reduced to slag in seconds!"
"Look! I'm giving you a direct order!"
"Then you can call this an official mutiny!"
"I'm with Three!"
"Yeah, me too!"
"No way I'm go'in up against those guys!"
"They say that these guys are real merciful to guys who give up early!"
".................................... You're all a bunch of pansies! You hear me?! A BUNCH OF PINK, FLUFFY, GIRLY PANSIES!!!!! I'll show you how a real pilot acts!!
With that, the lead fighter's engines roared, and he sped off toward the freighters.
"........... He's a dead man."
"Eh, I never liked him anyway."
As the Commander of Wasp Squadron neared his target, he couldn't help but feel a growing sense of dread.
'Nah, must be gas. I've got to lay off the burritos.'
He neared one of the fighters, which appeared to be attached to the top of the freighter's hull, when suddenly a bright white beam flashed in front of his fighter. Acting on instinct, he quickly dove, bringing the fighter out of the way of the follow-up blasts.
'Hmph. I'll just take out their main ship first. Maybe that'll teach those wussies how a real man acts.'
Aboard the Wild Horse, Arak was enjoying himself as he casually tried to shoot down the lone fighter that had attacked the ship. He took a sip of his soda as he swung the joystick in his hand back and forth, his forefinger keeping the "fire" button compressed.
"Hmm. Not bad for a beginner." Arak mused.
The fighter zoomed past, its lasers splashing harmlessly against the ship's shields.
"I think I'll honor his final moments by giving him a taste of the fancy stuff."
Arak kept the targeting cursor centered on the lone fighter, and then pushed a small yellow button on the side.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
The speaker once again pushed a button below the viewscreen, and Arak's picture was replaced with that of the Wild Horse.
"Their ship, the Wild Horse, is the most technologically advanced space vessel of its size and class. It sports the normal 693-GX hull design, but with drastically improved shields, armor, weapons, and engines. Reports also say it has several "special" systems that they unable to describe. In any case, one should engage the Wild Horse with extreme caution, as it has been known to overpower ships nearly twice its size, even without the help of the fighters.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
The Commander of Wasp Group grinned as he completed his first run over the Wild Horse. That gunner was firing like he was half blind. This was gonna be a piece of cake. It was then that his console beeped. The pilot looked over at the larger ship to see a panel open up and what looked like a torpedo launcher appear. It fired off a single missile and then retracted itself.
The Commander wasn't worried. Dodging torpedoes and missiles was the first thing they taught you at any flight school.
The projectile streaked towards its target, a short stream of red trailing behind it. The fighter it was chasing banked to the left suddenly, causing the missile to overshoot its target. Slowly but surely it turned around, and soon it was back on the fighter's tail.
The Commander merely grinned. His grin got even wider when the missile exploded.
'Ha! Must have been a dud!'
With that thought, he didn't even bother to look behind him, where the one missile had broken into over 30 small warheads, all headed for his ship.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
It was overkill at its best.
"See? I told him not to go."
"We hear ya, Three."
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
"Please be aware that because of the extreme danger involved in dealing with these individuals, all forces are encouraged to shoot on sight, no matter the situation. These three simple pirates have already cost empires and republics across the galaxy billions of credits. We are determined to make sure that their next heist will be their last! Dismissed!"
And with that, the mass briefing of the Galactic Police Force (Not to be confused with the Galaxy Police, who have much cooler ships.) came to a close, its participants filed out of the room. One bubbly brunette chatted with her friend Namake as they exited the room.
"Wow! Can you really believe that that first guy is a space pirate? I mean, he was so cute!"
"Taki! What are you talking about? He's a criminal!" Namake looked at her friend in shock and disbelief.
Taki just raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And you're telling me you didn't feel a single thing as your eyes traveled down his muscular body, and traced out his strong, lithe arms, met his deep blue eyes and-"
"Taki! That man is a pirate! You are a police officer! What if you met him on the field of battle? Would you be shooting or swooning?" Namake asked seriously, her hands on her hips.
Taki took a moment to think about it. "Neither really. I'd probably be on my knees begging 'please, please don't kill me! Let me be your love slave instead!'"
Namake sweatdropped as Taki giggled.
"Whatever. I'll see you later." Namake walked off.
"Bye Namake! Be sure to loosen up a bit, okay? All that stress'll cause wrinkles!"
Namake let out a low growl and stomped down the hallway to her ship, all the other officers giving her a wide berth.
__________________________________________________________________________ ________
*Clang!* The reverberating noise of metal hitting metal sounded throughout the Wild Horse's cargo hold as Rayden dropped off the last of the crates. On the other end of the airlock, the crew of the freighter huddled in fear as the large man stepped back through, wondering whether or not they would survive.
Rayden looked at the assembled group and gave them a smile. This time it was a nice smile.
"Well, we're all done here. Tell the authorities all about us when they get here, okay?"
The crew looked at each other in confusion, then the pilot of the freighter spoke.
"So... that's it?"
Rayden looked at the man and blinked. "Well... yeah. Unless you're hiding more valuables, that is."
"So you aren't going to shoot us?" the pilot asked hopefully.
"Or torture us?" said an engineer.
"Or rape us?" asked a female civilian.
Rayden blinked again, then shook his head. "Nope. Not our style."
He walked once more into the airlock.
"Uh, you really don't have to do this," Ranma said, scratching his head under his pigtail.
"Oh no! We're happy to do it!" chorused the three female engineers as they moved the freighter's cargo into the Wild Horse. They all looked quite happy. The pilot, however...
"What the hell are you doing?! They're robbing us! This is a heist! We're not supposed to help them!" He looked ready to burst a blood vessel. Or several of them.
"Um, that's right girls. This is highly illegal, you know," Ranma bigsweated as one of the women flashed him a smile in response.
"Oh, we don't mind at all!"
"Yes, pirate or not, you're still our guest!"
"And after beating up all those nasty guards and escort ships, we couldn't possibly let you steal all this by yourself! You could get hurt!"
Ranma sweatdropped. The pilot fainted.
Over in the cargo bay of the Wild Horse, Rayden watched Ranma as Arak went over the stolen goods.
"Lessee... high explosives, energy cells, plasm conductors..." Arak counted off the different items as Rayden watched the three girls take a crate Ranma was carrying into the cargo bay themselves.
"I don't know whether to feel sorry for him or jealous of him."
"A bunch of unidentifiable foodstuffs, and some armor vests! This is military stuff all right! You say something Rayden?"
"No, nothing. Let's pack it up and jet."
"Wait! You can't just leave us!"
Ranma's exit from the ship was suddenly blocked by three female bodies.
"Er, why not?"
"Please, take us with you!"
"Even as your prisoners!"
"We'll be good! We promise!"
Ranma's confused look eventually turned into a frown.
"Now look here, ladies-"
Ranma looked up and gulped as he saw three pairs of watery eyes staring at him.
"Pleeeeaaaaassssse?"
Arak rolled his eyes. "The gutsiest fighter in the Universe... and his spine turns to jello whenever a girl sheds a tear."
Rayden smiled. "C'mon, we need to rescue our leader from his admirers again."
Ranma was in a state of panic, and wondering what to do, when suddenly he found himself uncerimoniously yanked into the airlock just as the blast doors closed.
The three women stared at the doors for a moment, then started pouting.
"Oh poo!"
Aboard the Wild Horse, Ranma's companions were having a grand time laughing at Ranma's blushing face. That is, until Ranma punched Rayden into one of the walls. Arak was smart enough to shut up right then.
Ranma regained his composure, then calmly questioned Arak.
"Okay, so what'd we get?"
Arak grinned. "We hit gold this time Captain. We're talking fully functional, military hardware fresh from the factories."
Ranma nodded. That was a good catch.
"I wonder why it wasn't more heavily guarded though," he mused.
"Probably with all the wars escalating amongst the different powers around here, they couldn't spare more ships to guard a freighter that wasn't going near the front line," responded Rayden, after he had removed his head from the wall.
"I guess that makes sense." Ranma grinned. "Maybe we should do a little cleaning up after some of the major battles around here."
"You mean swoop in a after a battle and steal whatever's left?" Rayden asked.
"It'll be risky." Arak mused.
Ranma shrugged. "So? That's never stopped us before." At that, Ranma turned toward the window, and looked out into space. "But first, a vacation!"
Arak and Rayden looked at each other. "A vacation?" they asked in perfect synchronozation.
Ranma turned back toward them and smiled.
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End Chapter 1
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